One-Sided Arrangement
by BlackRobin7
Summary: Poppy is happily living her life alongside her friends, under the rule of a paranoid Prince Branch and a sweet Queen RosiePuff. But, when the Queen sets up a last minute arranged marriage between the two, her life isn't so simple anymore. Especially when she begins to suspect that Branch had more to do with this then he's letting on.
1. Chapter 1

I OWN NOTHING! And I would like to think lots of people on Tumblr for encouraging me to write this. This is my first time ever writing a story like this so dont feel shy about sending creative criticism. Hope you enjoy!

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"It's a beautiful day, and I can't stop myself from smiling..."

I was taking my time walking home after spending the majority of the day combing through a patch of Pop-Berry bushes with my friends. They wouldn't be fully in season for another two months, but we got lucky and were able to find two HUGE Pop-berry's which Biggy promised to turn into at least ten pies once they ripen in a day or two.

Just as I reach my bright pink Pod, a piece of paper pinned right next to the entrance catches my eye. Oh! Maybe someone's planning a party for tonight! I run the rest of the home and carefully remove the pin before reading.

 **Dear Ms. Poppy,**

 **You are summoned to an urgent Council Meeting by request of Prince Branch. The meeting is to take place this evening at 4:00 P.M. This Counsel Meeting is of top priority and if you are not present, some-one will be sent to collect you.**

 **Best Regards, The Royal Counsel.**

I roll my head back and let out a long, annoyed grown. Oh come on, what did I do this time! Whatever it was, how could it have possible been so bad, that Branch felt the need to dedicate a whole Royal Council meeting to it. I softly hit my head against my Pods wall and take a deep breath, muttering to myself. "It's ok, its ok. Maybe I'm not the only one that got this letter, maybe its nothing important after all. Branch over exaggerates everything, this is probably one of those times." There, see, I feel better already! Just have to look on the bright side! Wait, WHAT TIME! I quickly double check the now slightly crinkled letter.

4:00 PM…

I lean in through the doorway and check the clock hanging above my couch.

3:56 PM…

SHIT I'M GONNA BE LATE!

Gripping the letter, I bolt as fast I can, almost falling off of the tree limb I was originally walking on. I pick up the pace right before I start swinging from branch to branch with my hair, building up momentum whenever I could to reach the trees upper levels.

I'm moving so fast that I actually almost miss the deep green, extra-large Pod that blends into the moss covered bark. I sprint towards the single opening, but skid to a stop just before reaching the Councils Pod to take a breather. I may of just did a marathon, but I don't wanna LOOK like I did, this is my first council meeting after all. After a few more seconds of rapid breathing, I take one last really, really, deep breath and climb in.

The second my foot hits the Pods floor, everyone stops their ranting to stare at me, like a beetle caught in torch light. I let out an unsure, nervous laugh, "I uh, I was invited to the meeting today". I raise up the crinkled letter, now wishing that I had taken a second to flatten it out.

There are about 15 Trolls sitting around a three sided, square shaped table. Branch was sitting in the center next to a fidgety man with thick, round glasses. The members of the council where shifting uncomfortably in their seats, sending short, quick glances between Branch and me. I triple check the letter again and yeah, I'm supposed to be here. Hoping for some sort of clarification, I look from Troll to Troll, but no-one would even make eye contact with me. Ok, I'm starting to freak out, some explaining would be nice.

Well, Branch isn't calling me out on having something wrong, so that's a good sign, I guess. I look hopefully toward him next, hoping to get some sort of answers as to why I'm here, but he's too busy glaring at the troll with the Glasses. Glasses is squirming in his seat, trying his best not to let the hole Branch was burning into the side of his head affect him, he was failing. The future king was defiantly waiting for Glasses to do…something, but the poor guy just doesn't seem to know where to start.

All at once, Glasses quickly jerks to a stand, like he's ripping off a band aid. A few papers fly off the side of the conference table, they go ignored and Branches glare increases intensity.

Glasses clears his throat more then he would ever need to, and his words practically trip out of his mouth. "Y-yes, um Ms. Poppy. My apology's, yes your right on time." Ok great, now things are rolling! Though…there's nowhere for me to sit, so I'll just stand here I guess. "Ms. Poppy. You have been called here today to address a severely important matter. One regarding the royal family, specifically Prince Branch, and yourself."

If this is about Blossoms birthday party last week, and how Branch said that we had too many Clowns under one roof, I'm going to scream. Glasses clears his throat again and continues, this time a little bit more confident. "It has come to Queen Rosiepuffs attention that with Prince Branches coronation quickly approaching, and with herself aging, she came to the conclusion that the Future King should have a partner. Someone to help him rule, someone to challenge him, someone to help him grow into the King he was always meant to be."

Ok, that answered nothing. I'm a thousand time more confused then before. "So…you want me…to be Branches partner?" Glasses give a short quick nod that must have hurt his neck. "OH! like an ambassador of the people! Like, I make sure he understands everyone's needs, wants, plans, dreams, wishes, like that!?" This could be fun! POPPY, SUPER TROLL AMBASSADOR!

Glasses face quickly becomes the definition of panic, he starts shaking his head rapidly back and forth, fumbling through whatever papers were left on the table for words to say. The other members look even more uncomfortable now, though Branch continues to keep a small scowl on his face. He still doesn't ever turn his head towards me, I actually don't even think Branch so much as glanced at me once this whole time. Glasses gives up on the papers and scrambles to recover himself. "Nooonononononono, Ms. Poppy, I-I apologize again, but you've misunderstood what the Queens requesting. I mean, yes she does want you to be a part of Bra-PRINCE, Prince Branches life, but…not as an ambassador of any sorts."

Branch stops even trying to hide his blatant impatience, with his arms crossed and foot tapping loudly. He looks like he's on the verge of exploding if Glasses doesn't just come out with it. "The Queen, Ms. Poppy, asked for you personally, because she wants you, well. She want the Prince too, um, well…you see-"

"Poppy" Branches firm, but casual voice sounds though out the pod. He raises out of his seat and Glasses falls back down into his. After being ignored by him this whole time, having him address me point blank, kind of made me want to make myself as small as I could and hide. "What Mr. Fig was trying to say, was this. My grandmother has yes, decided that I need a partner to rule. A partner that will challenge my decisions, someone who I will stay beside until my dying day-." I don't like where this is going "-The Queen and I have come to the…agreement that you will be that person," My hearts racing and every instinct is telling me to camouflage myself before I'm swallowed alive. "Poppy," Branch takes a slightly shaky breath, and when he looks at me, his face is still that set in stone neutral, but his eyes, his eyes almost look pleading. "By command of the Queen. You are now here by ordered to become, for all intents and purposes," He swallows, and my feet are frozen to the ground. "…My Wife."

Everything stops.

My wife.

A ringing fills my ears.

My wife.

My eyes are open, but I don't see anything.

"…you are now here by ordered…"

I feel myself falling, but I don't feel the ground coming up to meet me while the world fades.


	2. Waking up to reality

I OWN NOTHING! ALSO! Thank you guys for the amazing reviews! I'm so glad you like it and please continue to read and review! hope you enjoy chapter 2!

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My eyes snap open to my darkened room, illuminated by a few glowing mushrooms sitting on my desk. My body's sitting straight up so fast I can't even remember moving at all. I gasp and take in a great, gulping breath of air, trying to rid myself of the feeling of drowning. I grasp at the sheets as if they're the only thing keeping me from being dragged back down into my suffocating dreams.

"It's ok" I whisper to softly, almost worried that the shadows hanging around the room would overhear. "Everything fine, your fine. Your home, your alone, and your fin-" "Hey"

I shriek bloody murder at the top of my lungs at the unexpected voice, then I proceed to gracefully tumble out of my bed. With a face full of Pod fuzz, I quickly recognize who the voice laughing at me in the far corner of the room belongs to, Branch. What, did he sneak in here just to scare the hair off of me? Why is he even in my Pod to begin with? It's the middle of the night, and doesn't he have better things to do with his Coronation only a few days away an-"

Memory's from the Council meeting hit me like a hard punch to the gut, and all the air in my lungs decide that now's a good time to evacuate as Branches words come flooding back.

"…you are here by ordered…"

"…I need a partner to rule…"

"…My wife…"

"…until my dying day…"

I can't remember how to walk, how to talk, or how to think while his words play on repeat at full volume. Somehow Branch realized this, because he all but picks me up off the floor to seat me on the edge of my bed. The Grey Troll stands in front of me with one hand on my shoulder just incase I fall over, again. "Poppy" he says gentle, like he's trying to wake up a sleep walker, and maybe he is.

I look up at the future King and struggle to put my thought into words. "That…th-that happened?" Branch slowly nods his head and I barely register his thumb softly stroking my skin. "That's a thing…that's a thing that's going to happen…W-WHAT!" Branch flinches sharply and pulls his hand back, like he's afraid I'll bite it off. A ping of sympathy rings in my chest, I shouldn't be taking this out on him. Dear Cybil this is Branch we're talking about, he probably lost his shit when he found out.

He quickly assumes the 'How do I tell you that I ran over your caterpillar' routine by pacing back and forth around the room, before finally grabbing one of my desk chairs and pulling it next to my bed. He takes a seat and fixes me with a stare. Not a creepy one, like how Guy Diamond looks at sparkly dresses, but one that makes me wonder if he's afraid I'll disappear if he were to look away. The grump takes in a short, deep breath before beginning what I hope will be him answering the many questions that just keep building up.

"In the meeting, They-I told you that my Grandma declared that she wants me to get married, and that you were the one chosen. I…ok look, this is hard. Besides, I'm sure you have lots of questions, rants, and angry slaps you want to dish out. So go ahead be my guest and I'll just answer". Well, not what I expected but It'll work.

I let out a sigh and place my hand on his shoulder, startling him. Wow, ok, he was not kidding when he thought that I would be dishing out slaps. "Branch, dude. I'm not going to freaking attack you. I mean, we're both in this shit show together, right? But really, why this? I mean, you going to be the King for Cybil's sake!" I throw my arms in the air for emphasis "It wouldn't be hard for you to find a date. I mean sure, you would probably…defiantly need a little help in lots of departments, but hey! You're not bad looking, your protective…" A little too protective if you ask me, but ok chill, to each their own. "…you're extremely smart, and you know how to plan things to a T." Branch has yet to take his eyes off me, but he can't keep the guilt he must be feeling out of them. Man, that's not fair, he didn't ask for this either. "Poppy…" He groans, interrupting my good quality listing session. "Poppy, it's not just the fact of me getting a date. WHICH, I could without any help think you very much! Grandma wants the person to be someone who would challenge me without a second thought and someone that wouldn't give up, no matter how difficult the situation might be." Hehe, yeah…that sure does sounds like me…shit. I can feel my throat tightening, I try swallowing to clear it, but as you would expect, it doesn't work. I look down to hide my eyes that I bet are getting red right about now. Out of all my questions I have two, two that have been burning in my mind since I was first told.

"When" I slowly ask. Grabbing his hand and gripping it tight. It must be at just as hard on him as it is on me, this is Branch after all. His hands are shaking, so I give it another comforting squeeze. He answers back at the same, slowed rate "The morning of my coronation. The Wedding will be held during the sunrise, while the Crowning Ceremony will be during the sunset." The Coronation…that's only two days away. Panic rapidly builds in my chest, and my throat tightens even more. I lift my head up to meet his eyes but quickly drop it back down. Looking at him right now is much harder than I thought it would be. Softly, because I'm honestly kind of scared to even ask this, I let out my second question.

"Why me? That answer you gave before, I know that's not it. Sounds like me sure, but there and lots of Trolls with the same characteristics, so why? Really, why me?" Branch is the one gripping my hand this time, gently, but firm. At first he doesn't answer, instead he makes me lay back under the covers, then he moves his chair back into it place, with me protesting the whole time. I asked a question damn it, and I need to know why?! Right when I think he's about to walk out the entrance of my Pod, ignoring the question, he instead leans down to my ear, so close that I can feel his warm breath on my skin, and he whispers softer than I thought he would have ever been able to. "Because it had to be you".

He straightens back up, but not before surprising me again. He places a short, feather soft kiss to my forehead and whispers, louder this time "You should get some sleep". Without another word, he climbs out of my Pod and leaves me to try to decipher what the heck that just was! I mean come on, my goal was to stop needing to ask questions, now I have to start another freaking list. I bury my face in one of my caterpillar fuzz pillows and just scream for a bit. After I let that out, I try my best to get a grip on my reeling mind and slowly, I'm able to fall back into my own personal dreamland.


	3. Chapter 3

The second I opened my eyes the next morning, the world launched into fast forward. I was yanked out of my warm bed and hurried from pod to pod to give much needed input for the rapidly approaching, surprise wedding that was taking place in less than 24 hours. At some point while I was sleeping, the Queens plan must have been announced because now everyone, other than me (THE FREAKING BRIDE) knew every little detail.

Arranged marriages now a days are so rare that everyone had almost forgotten that they had ever existed in the first place. Of course a lot of trolls were against it from the start, according to Guy Diamond there was even a small uproar when it made known. Though one short speech from Prince Branch later, and the majority decided to support the future kings wedding. A wedding that had the twins screaming and crying in both delight and fear at the prospect of making my wedding dress, and the Prince's suit.

Every step I made was guided by someone different every few minutes, every time I opened my mouth cake flavors where shoved in, and every time I would even look up questions would just start pouring in. "How long have you known?" "Aren't you excited!" "How are you holding up?" "What flavor cake do you want!" "Are you ok?" "Are you going to have kids soon?" for the first time in my life, I wanted nothing more than to be out of the center of attention. What am I even supposed to be doing anyway!? And where the hell is Branch? I haven't even seen that royal pain in my ass step outside ONCE today and its almost 2:00!

SOMEHOW, I'm able to crawl away from the ever growing mob, running a bit extra just for good measure. When I stop, I drop face first into a bed of fresh moss and scream in frustration, how was I supposed to know all the details that went into planning a wedding for the future King…and Queen? A deep sigh that I didn't know escapes my lips, I hadn't figured that part out yet. I roll over so I'm laying on my side, and for a while I just watched light bounce between the leaves. Not a bad view, especially when I could see my pod perfectly from here. Oh man, do I just want to go home, climb into my bed, and prey to Cybil that today was just a really, REALLY weird dream from eating to many Pop rocks.

I just lay there, watching my pod drift in the wind, with nowhere to go and not really wanting to be anywhere else. Huh, I actually can't remember having a peaceful moment like this. Normally I'd be hunting down excitement and building energy right now…but this was nice.

I start to drift off, almost forgetting why I even ran off in the first place. Absently watching Trolls moving in and out of my cotton candy like pod, while my eyes slowly drift shut….Wait….

WHAT!

I'm up and racing towards my Pod before I can even process that my feet are moving. Why are Trolls in my pod? What were they doing? AND WHY does no one ever tell me about anything!?

"Hey!" I call out, nearly crashing into one of the Trolls rummaging through my home. Slowing to a stop to prevent anymore possible collisions, I gape at the team if Trolls dismantling my pod piece by piece.

I take a gulp of air, and remind myself to say calm, and give them a chance to explain themselves. "Uhh…GUYS!" Everyone freezes in place instantaneously, feet still in the air and everything. "Can someone please explain to me what's going on!" I spin to make sure I face everyone, waiting for an excuse for the destruction.

"Uhh…Poppy?" A yellow and purple Troll named Lily (Great Dancer, high pitched singer) awkwardly slides forward. "We weren't exactly sure whether you knew or not…Well, Branch told us to get started on it so that everything was ready by tonight-WHICH DOES MAKE SINCE! You know, given the time crunch and list of things to do I mean-". "Lily" I groan out heavily, annoyed that everyone's been skipping around the bush today. "Please, just get out with it. I'm a big girl, I can take it". I exaggerate a smile and give her a thumbs up. She rubs her arm up and down and looks as if she's expecting me to spontaneously combust any second. "Ok…So you know how the wedding is tomorrow morning?" I flinch at the reminder, but nod. "- And you know how Prince Branches Coronation is tomorrow night?" I nod again, noting how the rest of the group look like their ready to run away at any moment. "Well, we'll be celebrating all day, and there won't be that much time between everything else going on. So, Prince Branch said to move your stuff in today". I keep my face still, looking for any indicator of a joke. "Moving in?…" She fiddles with her fingers "We yeah, I mean…your marrying him! So of course you'll be- Well he says that you'll be living with him, In the royal pod.

 _ **Living with him.**_

I kind of forgot that part of the whole "Marriage" deal.

Oh dear Cybil this is really happening.

I'm marrying Branch tomorrow.

I _have_ to marry Branch tomorrow.


End file.
